Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Taking in my daily sustenance down at my local Scottish restaurant
When I noticed that my entree was more than I bargained for
Look what I got
The manager said there was compensation coming my way
But not today

Don't call us
Don't call us
Don't call us
We'll call you

Aunty Lynn said it would be a sin to waste my precious vocal expertise
So I took me to audition down at the prestigious theater called the Ritz
Producer man was nice as he could be
He said I was fine
But not this time

Don't call us
Don't call us
Don't call us
We'll call you

Seems I've been hearing the same thing since I don't know when
One with a little less confidence might just give in
I'm no one's fool unless I want to be
Life can be cruel
Won't someone please just call me

At the end of just what seemed to be a perfect evening just what did I do
Could it be something I said or didn't follow through
I wish I knew
We danced and dined
I even kissed your hand
Under a twinkling sky
I said goodbye when you cried

Sunday, May 28, 2017

(https://newrepublic.com/article/138680/media-blew-election-now-theyre-blowing-transition-trump)
". . . The situation that confronts us is extremely dangerous, and not just for all the civic dissension Trump has inspired, or for his erratic, unpredictable nature. Apart from all the hiring Trump would have to do anyhow, his offensiveness and grotesque unfitness for office is likely to lead to an unusual number of civil-service departures. Relatedly, most decent, honorable professionals are not going to want to work for the Trump administration. At a nuts and bolts level, much of the federal government is going to be run by goons or not at all. This is on top of the fact that of all the basic things the president is required to do on a day-to-day basis—listen attentively, read closely, speak carefully—Trump lacks the intelligence and composure to do any of them. . . "

Saturday, May 27, 2017

(inspired by https://www.righteousbabe.com/pages/we-gotta-stop-this)
[Excerpt from Federalist Paper 1]
"It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for their political constitutions, on accident and force."

[Excerpt from Federalist Paper 68]
"The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States."

2. "Our goal is a coalition of nations who share the aim of stamping out extremism and providing our children a hopeful future that does honor to God."

3. "We are not here to lecture — we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership."

4. "Every time a terrorist murders an innocent person, and falsely invokes the name of God, it should be an insult to every person of faith."

5. "But we can only overcome this evil if the forces of good are united and strong — and if everyone in this room does their fair share and fulfills their part of the burden."

6. "Terrorism has spread across the world. But the path to peace begins right here, on this ancient soil, in this sacred land."

7. "America is prepared to stand with you ... But the nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them."

8. "This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it.This is a battle between good and evil."

9. "That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires. And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians."

10. "Religious leaders must make this absolutely clear: Barbarism will deliver you no glory — piety to evil will bring you no dignity. If you choose the path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief, and your soul will be condemned."

Thursday, May 25, 2017

(from The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass [new translation by Breon Mitchell])
". . . Gregor, though he made good money at the gunpowder mill, failed to provide even the bare necessities at home, but drank everything away instead. While Gregor, taking after my great-grandmother no doubt, was a real drinker, my grandfather Joseph was a man who merely enjoyed a schnapps now and then. It wasn't sorrow that drove Gregor to drink. And even when he seemed cheerful, which was seldom enough, since he tended toward melancholy, he didn't drink because he was in high spirits. He drank because he was a thorough man who like to get to the bottom of things, including his liquor. As long as he lived, no one every saw Gregor Koljaiczek leave a half-full shot glass of Machandel gin standing. . . "

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

(from http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/05/19/revealed-barack-obama-talked-directly-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-concerns/ . . . with commentary from me)
BB: "Obama was one of the instigators of the “fake news” panic that has put Facebook in the establishment’s CROSSHAIRS following the election of Donald Trump. "
ME: I realize fake news was addressed to, and originated with, both political 'camps.' "Panic" though? What panic? Why Breitbart (and fox also, I'm sure) panic, of course. In any case, I suppose those of us non-NRA members are not part of the establishment putting Facebook in the CROSSHAIRS! And though, no particularly ardent fan of Barack Obama, I believe these folks put forth an convincing argument (or any kind of thesis at all) with the first sentence accusing Obama of being one instigator of the 'panic' etc. to which I've already referred.

BB: "According to a major New York Times Magazine feature on the future of Facebook, he is also holding private discussions with Mark Zuckerberg."
ME: Meaning, I surmise, that I, as part of the aforementioned 'establishment' must be concerned for some reason?

BB: "Earlier that day, Zuckerberg’s staff had sent me a draft of a 5,700­ word manifesto that, I was told, he spent weeks writing. The document, “Building Global Community,” argued that until now, Facebook’s corporate goal had merely been to connect people. But that was just Step 1. According to the manifesto, Facebook’s “next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community — for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all.” If it was a nebulous crusade, it was also vast in its ambition.
ME: Nebulous, yes. But to which part of it did you object?

BB: "Facebook’s spokespeople then called the New York Times Magazine reporter to clarify the CEO’s comments, which the reporter interpreted as an attempt to counter the perception that the new manifesto was “partisan” and “anti-Trump.”"
ME: Seems the reporter possesses interpretation and perception issues.

BB: "Facebook’s spokespeople later called to stress that Obama was only one of many people to whom he had spoken. In other words: Don’t read this as a partisan anti-­Trump manifesto. But if the company pursues the admittedly airy aims outlined in “Building Global Community,” the changes will echo across media and politics, and some are bound to be considered partisan."
ME: Now Facebook's spokespeople AND the reporter seem to have issues. AND, if this can in any way be viewed as a partisan issue, then my takeaway is that Obama and Facebook opponents (republicans? Trump-ites?) are anti-Global Community (read isolationist?).

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

(from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/opinion/trump-classified-data.html?smid=fb-share)
". . . There are three tasks that most mature adults have sort of figured out by the time they hit 25. Trump has mastered none of them. Immaturity is becoming the dominant note of his presidency. . . First, most adults have learned to sit still. But mentally, Trump is still a 7-year-old boy who is bouncing around the classroom. Trump’s answers in these interviews are not very long — 200 words at the high end — but he will typically flit through four or five topics before ending up with how unfair the press is to him. . . He is ill informed about his own policies and tramples his own talking points. . . most people of drinking age have achieved some accurate sense of themselves, some internal criteria to measure their own merits and demerits. But Trump seems to need perpetual outside approval to stabilize his sense of self, so he is perpetually desperate for approval, telling heroic fabulist tales about himself. . . “In a short period of time I understood everything there was to know about health care,” he told Time. “A lot of the people have said that, some people said it was the single best speech ever made in that chamber,” he told The Associated Press, referring to his joint session speech. . . By Trump’s own account, he knows more about aircraft carrier technology than the Navy. . .He is thus the all-time record-holder of the Dunning-Kruger effect, the phenomenon in which the incompetent person is too incompetent to understand his own incompetence. . . "

Monday, May 22, 2017

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

Bar rooms sure have a funny way
Of bringing loyalty out in a man
Buy a drink and tell a joke
And buddy you've got you a friend
But keep a good eye upon that friend
Because he really doesn't give two hoots
And don't say anything about his Mom
His girlfriend or his army boots

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

Walked into an auto-mo-showroom
I need some wheels but got no money to spend
When a guy with an ugly tie
Walks out and acts like he's my long-lost friend
I said hey Buddy I've a purpose here
And if you please I will accomplish my goal
So don't you slap me on the back again
Cause if you do I might just lose my control

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

So please be careful when you meet someone
Who'll make a promise at the drop of a hat
And don't provide them with encouragement
You will regret the day you offered him that
Cause everybody needs some empathy
But just how willing
And how far will they go
To really help you when the chips are down
Can they be trusted half as far as you throw them

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

Sunday, May 21, 2017

(from The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government)
". . . the two men (Dulles and Richard Nixon) first came in contact in late 1945, when young naval officer Richard Nixon was shuttling up and down the East Coast wrapping up war-related business for the Navy. While sifting through the military paperwork, Nixon came across eye-opening Nazi documents that had been shipped to an old torpedo factory on the Virginia side of the Potomac. Some of these documents revealed how the Dulles brothers had helped launder Nazi funds during the war. Loftus, citing confidential intelligence sources, alleged that Dulles and Nixon proceeded to cut a deal. "Allen Dulles," reported Loftus (John, former Justice Dept. Nazi hunter), "told him to keep quiet about what he ad seen and, in return, [Dulles] arranged to finance the young man's first congressional campaign against Jerry Voorhis.". . ."

Saturday, May 20, 2017

(from James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham)
". . . Madison hoped further that the interests of the slaves might receive a little protection, sometimes by eastern members anxious to protect them as property, and sometimes by western members sympathizing with them against the oppressive designs of their masters. Madison concluded with a pleas for "the spirit of compromise" that found him, consciously and almost word for word, re-enacting the role played by the aged Franklin at the close of the 1787 Federal Convention. He asked his fellow delegates not to despair, "notwithstanding all the threatening appearances we have passed through," but instead to "agree on some common ground, all sides realizing in their opinions, not changing, but mutually surrendering a part of them.". . . "

Friday, May 19, 2017

(from James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham)
". . . The finiteness of the human understanding betrays itself on all subjects, but more especially when it contemplates such as involve infinity. . . . The infinity of time and space forces itself on our conception, a limitation of either being inconceivable; that the mind prefers at once the idea of a self-existing cause to that of an infinite series of cause and effect, which augments, instead of avoiding the difficulty; and that it finds more facility in assenting to the self-existence of an invisible cause possessing infinite power, wisdom and goodness, than to the self-existence of the universe, visibly destitute of those attributes, and which may be the effect of them. In this comparative facility of conception and belief, all philosophical Reasoning on the subject must perhaps terminate. . ."